State v. Sauceda

472 N.W.2d 798, 163 Wis. 2d 553, 1991 Wisc. App. LEXIS 971
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedMay 22, 1991
Docket90-1441-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 472 N.W.2d 798 (State v. Sauceda) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sauceda, 472 N.W.2d 798, 163 Wis. 2d 553, 1991 Wisc. App. LEXIS 971 (Wis. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

ANDERSON, J.

Abel Sauceda appeals from judgments of conviction for three counts of first-degree sexual assault contrary to sec. 940.225(l)(d), Stats. (1985-86),1 sexual intercourse or contact with a person twelve years of age or younger, and one count of second-degree sexual assault contrary to sec. 940.225(2)(d), sexual intercourse or contact with a person the defendant knows to be unconscious. Sauceda also appeals from an order denying his motion for postconviction relief. The four convictions stem from an incident involving Sauceda and three minor females. The second-degree count and one of the three first-degree counts travel to Sauceda's conduct with victim K.J.; the other two counts of first-degree sexual assault concern Sauceda's conduct with victims J.J. and V.K.

On appeal, Sauceda raises three issues: (1) whether the bindover following the preliminary hearing on the first-degree sexual assault count regarding victim J.J. was proper; (2) whether the convictions for both first-degree and second-degree sexual assault regarding victim K.J. is "multiple punishment" in violation of state and federal constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy; and (3) whether there was sufficient evidence to [562]*562support the "unconscious" element of the second-degree sexual assault charge regarding K.J. We hold that the trial court properly overruled the magistrate's dismissal of one count of first-degree sexual assault. However, we reverse Sauceda's conviction on the one count of second-degree sexual assault, sexual contact with K.J. while she was asleep contrary to sec. 940.225(2)(d), Stats., because it is multiplicitous with his conviction for one of the counts of first-degree sexual assault, sexual contact with a child under the age of twelve years, contrary to sec. 940.225(l)(d).

I. FACTS

On the night of June 29-30, 1989, Sauceda was babysitting for his two nieces, T.K., then age ten, and V.K., then age seven, in the girls' home. The girls' parents were at work at the time. On that evening, T.K. and V.K. each had a female friend over to play and spend the night. The two friends were also minors and sisters — K.J. was nine and J.J. was eight. Two adult males — in addition to Sauceda — were also present in the home that evening. Sauceda was playing cards with his brother Alvin and an unrelated man by the name of Reuben. By all accounts, Reuben left the house before any of the conduct in question took place.

V.K. and her friend J.J. went to bed upstairs on the floor in V.K.'s bedroom; T.K. and her friend K.J. slept in sleeping bags on the dining room floor because Alvin was staying overnight in T.K.'s room. Sometime thereafter, J.J., who was not yet asleep, felt someone touching her on the buttocks. According to J.J., the touching went on for "a minute or so," but stopped when she got up from the floor and moved away, climbing into V.K.'s bed, which was nearby. J.J. could not tell what time it was, [563]*563and she did not see who touched her. When J.J. got into V.K.'s bed, she noticed that V.K. was still sleeping on the floor.

V.K. awoke that night when she felt someone touching her upper thigh and vaginal area. V.K. did not see the person who was touching her while she was being touched, but shortly after the touching stopped, V.K. saw her "Uncle Abel" leaving the room. V.K. then got into her bed and found that J.J. was already there.

K.J. and T.K. went to bed around midnight. K.J. was "half asleep" when she felt someone touching her on her vaginal area. She testified that she did not wake up entirely or open her eyes to see who was touching her. She then fell back asleep.

Sometime later, K.J. was roused from sleep when she felt someone tickling her feet. This time K.J. became fully awake and saw Sauceda lying on the floor at her feet. Sauceda appeared to K.J. to be asleep. K.J., who had gone to bed wearing underwear and pajamas, also noticed that her pajama bottoms had been pulled down and that her underpants had been removed. She awakened T.K., who was asleep beside her, and stated that T.K.'s "Uncle Abel was moving on me." The girls ran upstairs, first to the bathroom, and then to V.K.'s bedroom. Together, in V.K.'s room, the girls awaited Mr. and Mrs. K.'s return.

After Mr. and Mrs. K. returned home from work around 1:00 a.m., Mr. K. went to check on the girls. He found them in V.K.'s room, where they told him what had happened. The police were summoned, and the girls were taken to a hospital for examination. The emergency room doctor who examined K.J. that night testified at trial that K.J.'s vaginal area was reddened and sore, an abnormal condition likely produced by either a chemical or a physical irritant. K.J. testified that she had not [564]*564experienced any discomfort, soreness, infection, pain, or problems with her vaginal area in the days preceding June 29-30.

> Based upon the three episodes involving each of the three girls, the state charged Sauceda with three counts of first-degree sexual assault. All three girls testified before a court commissioner (magistrate) at a preliminary hearing on July 13, 1989. The magistrate bound Sauceda over for trial on the counts relating to K.J. and V.K., but dismissed the charge regarding J.J. The magistrate reasoned that:

[c]oncerning [J.J.], frankly, I really don't think there was enough established there . . .. She really doesn't tell us much of anything other than she was touched on the buttocks. She can't tell us who. She can't really tell us when. She doesn't really give us anything more to indicate how she was touched on the buttocks, and so I think there was a paucity of evidence concerning [J.J.]; and I will not make a finding of probable cause concerning her . . ..

The state then filed a three-count information, omitting the J.J. charge.2 However, the state also [565]*565obtained trial court review of the magistrate's dismissal order of the J.J. charge. The trial court reversed the magistrate's dismissal order and granted the state permission to file an amended information charging the J. J. offense. The trial court reasoned that "in taking the totality of the situation on the night in question . . . there is probable cause to believe that the defendant was the person who committed the alleged sexual contact.1'

The state filed an amended information additionally charging the J.J. offense. Sauceda entered pleas of not guilty, and a jury trial was had on October 23-25, 1989. The jury found Sauceda guilty of all four offenses. Sauceda was sentenced to forty-eight months' imprisonment on one of the first-degree sexual assault convictions. On the remaining convictions, the trial court withheld sentence and imposed three concurrent ten-year terms of probation consecutive to the prison sentence. The trial court denied Sauceda's postconviction motions. Sauceda appeals.

II. BINDOVER

Sauceda argues that the trial court erred by reversing the magistrate's order dismissing the first-degree sexual assault concerning J.J.3

We first address the scope and standard of our review of the magistrate's decision at the preliminary [566]*566hearing. The focus of a preliminary hearing is to ascertain whether the facts and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom support the conclusion that the defendant probably committed a felony.

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485 N.W.2d 1 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Sauceda
472 N.W.2d 798 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
472 N.W.2d 798, 163 Wis. 2d 553, 1991 Wisc. App. LEXIS 971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sauceda-wisctapp-1991.